You are here

Initiatives

A centralized listing of major Patent Application Initiatives provides applicants with access to information on several patent initiatives designed to advance and support the examination process. Compare the various patent application initiatives that are available prior to examination, during examination, or after close of prosecution to evaluate and contrast the benefits of participating.

Executive Actions

On June 4, 2013, President Obama announced five executive actions "to help bring about greater transparency to the patent system and level the playing field for innovators." Four of these actions were undertaken by the USPTO. On February 20, 2014, the President announced three new initiatives aimed

In June 2013, the White House issued a series of Executive Actions concerning high-tech patent issues. To improve transparency in patent ownership, the USPTO has formulated a rule that will require patent applicants and owners to regularly update ownership information.

The USPTO is expanding its Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) and requesting voluntary assistance from Scientists, Engineers, Professors, and Industrial Designers to participate as guest lecturers. Volunteer your time and expertise as a guest lecturer to ensure patent examiners keep

USPTO has formed a partnership with the software community to enhance the quality of software-related patents (Software Partnership). The Software Partnership is an opportunity to bring stakeholders together through a series of roundtable discussions to share ideas, feedback, experiences, and insights on software-related patents.

One initiative of the Software Partnership is the investigation and sharing of search strategies, and the improvement of tools and resources to evolve better techniques to identify prior art. Involvement of the scientific community in sharing best practices should help the USPTO identify the most relevant search resources and determine the best prior art for examination.

The SEE Program is designed to provide patent examiners with an opportunity to visit organizations and learn about state of the art technology developments. USPTO Seeking Organizations to Participate in the SEE Program

The key objectives of the recently implemented count system are to provide more overall time for examination and to place emphasis on complete and thorough initial examination, encourage quicker resolution of issues, and to reduce unnecessary rework.

The USPTO's Complex Work Unit (CWU) Pilot Program helps users simplify online access to, and availability of, USPTO information and data for purposes of improved examination of applications, as well as publication of pre-grant publications and patent grants.

Under the Full First Action Interview Pilot Program, an applicant is entitled to a first action interview, upon request, prior to the first Office action on the merits. The examiner will conduct a prior art search and provide applicant with a condensed pre-interview communication citing relevant

Effective December 18, 2013 The provisions in the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 focus on harmonizing and streamlining many of the formal procedures for filing and processing a patent application.